Debate on reducing fly-tipping, House of Commons, 17 April 2018

Fly-tipping is an environmental and public health hazard. It blights our streets and green spaces, and often rewards criminal activity. Local authorities want to work with the Government to strengthen deterrents to fly-tipping and ensure those who illegally dump waste are punished.

Key messages

Incidences of fly-tipping have been rising steadily across the country since 2013. The last annual figures show there were 1 million recorded incidences in 2016/17, which is the highest number since 2009.

Clearing up fly-tipping costs councils more than £57 million a year – money that could be spent on other services, like caring for the elderly, protecting children or tackling homelessness.This is unacceptable at a time when town hall budgets are under severe pressure.

Despite increasingly stretched waste and recycling budgets, local authorities are determined to catch and punish fly-tippers. Councils carried out 474,000 enforcement actions in 2016/17, costing around £16 million. The number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued increased by 56 per cent.

We were pleased the Government responded to our call for councils to be able to apply FPNs to fly-tippers. This will help to deter offenders. When they take offenders to court, councils need a faster and more effective legal system which lands hard-hitting fines for more serious offences.

The Government should consider asking manufacturers to provide more take-back services so people can hand in old furniture, white goods and mattresses when they buy new ones. Retailers and manufacturers must be part of the solution to preventing fly-tipping and avoiding waste more widely.